Chapter 24 #2
When they pulled up, Lauren was waiting for them outside on the porch. She handed Poppy the keys, with a bottle of champagne, and, of course, asked what had happened to her head. She was impressed the injury took place two days earlier and the entire town didn’t know about it.
Lauren had to run, she was filming in Copper Cove, which was, coincidentally, where Michael Davies lived and raised his family.
Once she was gone, Poppy tried to open the door, but when she tried to put the key in the lock, she was trembling.
Niko was talking about the siding, windows, and roof, but AJ must have noticed.
He placed his hand on her lower back and leaned down close to her ear and quietly told her, “Breathe.”
She took a deep breath in and then exhaled and was able to open the door.
When she walked in, unfortunately the nerves she had felt on the porch only magnified.
She looked around and was hit by the—“Holy shit, what have I done!?”—–Mack truck.
Poppy walked through the house, seeing it through a totally different lens now that she might be bringing a baby home to it.
What had been a fixer-upper now looked like a dilapidated death trap.
Niko was clearly not reading the room. He looked like a kid in a candy store, walking through each space, talking about everything that needed to be done.
New flooring, appliances, removing walls, gutting bathrooms, extensions, a new back deck, vaulted ceilings, and all the things she didn’t have money to do.
Poppy was barely holding it together as she stared at her kitchen filled with Formica counters and cabinets that were falling apart.
Literally they were hanging off the wall.
The world started to go dark, her stomach was turning, and her head was feeling light.
She was either going to cry, throw up, hyperventilate, or pass out.
Maybe all four. The entire room began to spin.
“Sit down.” AJ’s voice sounded far away.
She could barely feel her legs as she lowered down with her back up against the wall. She pulled her knees to her chest and hugged them. AJ squatted in front of her. “You’re good. You’re okay. Just breathe.”
“This place is great. It has good bones. And—” Niko came around the corner and stopped talking when he saw the scene in front of him. “Is she okay? Do I need to call an ambulance?”
Poppy started shaking her head no as more panic built in her. Then she lowered her head, resting her forehead on her knees because it started pounding.
“We’re good. She’s good.” AJ’s voice was calm and assertive.
“Do you need anything?” Niko asked. “Does she need anything?”
“No. We’re good.”
“Okay. Call me if you do.”
Poppy was vaguely aware of Niko leaving. She heard the front door close, and the screen slam shut.
“It’s just us now.” AJ’s hands cupped her face, tilting it up so she had to look in his eyes. “Is this about the house?”
Tears began to fill her eyes. She knew it was more than just the house, but right at that moment, it was about the house. She nodded.
“Okay. Okay. I’m going to say something to you, but I’m only going to say it because I know that in this case, I can guarantee it. Okay?”
She nodded.
“It will be okay. I will make sure it is okay. Breathe.” AJ stood. “Stay there. Don’t move.”
As she sat there, breathing, he walked around the entire house, making notes in his phone and taking digital measurements. He flipped on lights, turned on water, checked the HVAC, and even went up into the attic.
The more he did, the more she started calming down. That is until she was no longer in the clutches of a panic attack, and then the scales tipped and embarrassment consumed her. She’d freaked out. Niko had seen it. And now AJ was saving the day. Again.
Poppy had never been a damsel-in-distress, but for some reason, she kept being cast in that role, and AJ kept being her knight in shining armor, saving the day.
It was embarrassing but also terrifying.
Mainly because of what would happen when he stopped riding in on his white horse to save her? What then?
“You don’t have to do this just because I’m pregnant,” she snapped rudely. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
She could hear the defensive tone in her voice, she knew what she was doing, preemptive abandonment, but she couldn’t stop it.
A ‘thank you’ would have been sufficient, she told herself.
AJ didn’t have any reaction to her snippy comment. He simply replied, “I know,” and continued taking measurements.
For some reason, his non-reaction only irritated her more. She actually wanted to pick a fight with him. What in the drama-inciting-toxic-energy was that? She didn’t even recognize herself.
She needed to figure her shit out, and she needed to do it fast.
The television light flickered across Poppy’s face as she watched what AJ now knew was the Salt Lake City Housewives arguing about something. He sat beside her on the couch wondering if his overnight privileges were going to be revoked tonight or tomorrow.
Technically, she was in the clear from her concussion now.
Tomorrow she was returning back to regular duties as a nanny.
Despite knowing that physically she was up to the tasks, he still felt very protective of her.
If it were up to him, he’d spend the next thirty-two weeks not letting her out of his sight, making sure she had everything she needed twenty-four-seven.
Living next door was close, but for him it wasn’t close enough.
Ever since they’d come home from the house today, she’d been quiet.
Too quiet. He knew something was bothering her, but he wasn’t sure what it was or how to fix it.
It was highly probable it had something to do with him and the house, but he’d seen the panic in her eyes.
He’d also seen the state the house was in.
Luckily, Niko was right, it had good bones, but the rest needed work, work he would do because then he knew it would be done right.
He couldn’t do it all himself, but the work he wasn’t capable of alone, he would hire out and if he oversaw the trades, then he knew those would be done right as well.
Was that what upset her? That he’d taken over?
Should he have asked her if she wanted his help?
If he did that, she would have said no. She didn’t want people to help her.
She didn’t even want people to know she was pregnant.
When was she going to tell people? When would she let people be there for her?
“What?” she asked without taking her eyes from the screen.
“Nothing,” he responded.
She turned toward him. “What? What were you thinking?”
Since she asked, he felt like he had to tell her. “When are you going to tell people?”
She looked down at her belly, placing her hand over it, then looked back up at AJ. “Why?”
AJ didn’t know how to communicate what he wanted to say. He’d never been good at communicating. Instead of trying to overthink it or not say the wrong thing, like he worried about with other people, he just said what he was thinking.
“You don’t have to go through this alone.”
He watched as Poppy’s eyes filled with tears, and he immediately apologized. “I’m sorry.” He hadn’t meant to upset her, in fact, that was the last thing he wanted to do.
She started to shake her head, but before she could respond, a loud knock sounded at the door, and AJ stood. Poppy also stood, her eyes wide. When he moved to go answer the door, she shoved his chest, trying to push him back to sit down on the couch. He remained standing.
“Stay here,” she whispered.
“Why are you whispering?” he asked.
“What if it’s my mom?”
Right. She didn’t want her mom to think anything was going on between them, like they were having a baby. He lowered back down onto the couch and tried not to take the fact that she was horrified about anyone finding out he was at her place personally.
When the door opened, he immediately knew it was not her mom. It was a male voice asking her if she was okay.
“Yeah, fine.”
“I just saw the security footage.”
Security footage? This was clearly Deacon St. Claire. Despite being warned to stay out of sight, AJ stood and walked to the doorway and took his place behind Poppy.
“Oh, hi.” Deacon was clearly surprised to see AJ. “You’re the neighbor, right? You were with Poppy on the footage? I’m Deacon.”
He extended his hand, and AJ shook it. “AJ.”
AJ couldn’t quite put his finger on what the deal was with Deacon St. Claire, but there was more to his story than he was letting on. For one thing, Deacon definitely knew who AJ was when he’d just shaken his hand. Maybe, like AJ, Deacon had googled him, but he sensed it was more than just that.
It could be that Deacon was a Waves fan, and so he knew Niko Costas and knew Niko had a brother, AJ. That could be why there was recognition in Deacon’s eyes, but it felt like more than that.
When he dropped AJ’s hand, Deacon looked back at Poppy. “I won’t keep you, I just wanted to make sure you were okay, that you didn’t need anything. And if you’re not feeling up to taking Tabitha to schoo—”
“I’m fine. Really,” Poppy insisted as she touched the stitches on her forehead. “It looks like Frankenstein, but I’m okay.”
Deacon smiled. “Well, if that changes, just let me know. It’s no problem. I can work from home. And if you need anything, don’t hesitate to ask.”
“Thanks.” Poppy shut the door and turned around to face AJ.
He could see from her expression that she was not happy. She crossed her arms and looked up at him. “Someone is very bad at following orders.”
AJ grinned. Her statement was too lighthearted for her to be really upset. “I’m much better at giving them.”
His comment caused a flush to rise up her chest and cheeks. He hadn’t meant it to be sexual, but now that he’d seen the way she’d blushed his dick thought he had.